Changed?
by I HATE CAPS-LOCK
Summary: Ahh...the everchanging relationship of Lily and James. Happiness and sadness, but mostly happiness, ahead. Instructions...I feel like a shampoo bottle...: Read, then review!
1. I just wanted to take a walk!

**Changed?**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything! Sob! I confess it, okay? It all belongs to the great and powerful JKR.

AN: Hey! It's me again! This is possibly the most terrible piece of literature that has ever existed, but I felt like posting it anyway, because I felt like I needed to do something with it.

James Potter stood on the corner of Privet Drive looking down the street tentatively. He had only been taking a walk, when he saw a figure curled up in a ball under a willow tree in front of Number 4 Privet Drive, crying.

At first he was going to just walk down the street and pretend to not notice the stranger, when he realized that this girl wasn't a stranger. She was Lily Evans, the girl he had been obsessed with for two years.

Now he wasn't sure what to do. Should he just walk past Number 4 without stopping? She was surely too distraught to notice him. But James knew that if he walked past her the urge to stop and talk to her would be too strong to ignore. Maybe he should turn around and go home. But did he want to leave her on her own, crying? Of course not...if he had it his way, he would always be around to comfort her.

James wanted so badly to go and put a comforting arm around the charming girl, and soothe her. What worried him, though, was that she would think he was making fun of her. That would mess up everything. He was trying to deflate his head, and become less show-offish. She was actually starting to tolerate him. Attempting to comfort her could ruin everything he had worked so hard to change during sixth year.

But James being James started walking down the street toward Lily. Now that he had decided to stop at her house, he felt like he wanted to be by her side immediately, and so he broke into a jog.

When he reached Number 4, he started walking again, not making a sound as he crept towards her. When he pushed aside the branches of the willow and was in clear view of the crying girl, she looked up and gasped.

"Lily-"James started to say.

"Potter!" Lily cut him off in a thick voice. "What are you doing here? Go away."

"Lily, what's wrong? I was taking a walk, and then I saw you."

"Nothing's wrong Potter. Just leave me alone. Please."

James walked over to Lily and sat down next to her, and, surprisingly, she didn't scoot away from him.

"I'm concerned about you. What's wrong? Please just tell me," murmured James.

Lily closed her eyes, as if giving up her battle to keep James in he dark about her problems, and said thickly, "My father had cancer-that's a muggle illn-"

"I know what cancer is, Lily," James said quickly.

"Oh. Well, er...today he..." her voice broke. "He passed away," she finished quietly, between deep, steadying breaths.

James felt terrible for her_. 'A girl as nice as her shouldn't have to have such bad things happen to her!'_ he thought indignantly. James had an internal struggle with himself on whether to put his arm around her or not, and then decided that she was too distressed to get horribly mad over it. He hesitantly put an arm around her and pulled her into a half-hug. She astonishingly didn't pull away, and instead put her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"For what?" James asked, nonplussed.

"For crying like this. You must think I'm appallingly childish. I just-"

"Lily," James said softly, "You are not childish. Anyone would cry if their father passed away."

At these words, Lily broke into a fresh bout of sobs.

"Oh, Lily, I didn't mean to make you cry...."

"No, James, it's just...it's so distressing. And now, my sister is kicking me out of the house because her fiancé is moving in and she is embarrassed by me, and I have nowhere to go, and now my dad is dead and...." Lily's broke off as she started sobbing once again.

James was confused. How could Lily's mother let Petunia kick Lily out of the house? When James asked Lily this, she quietly explained that her mother had died three years ago. James was filled with anger once again. It was so unfair for Lily to have to deal with so many things at such a young age. Suddenly, he had an idea.

"Lily," he said, carefully planning how to request his idea, "youcouldmebbelivwimeforabit". Yep. He was a real smooth talker.

"What?" Lily asked in honest confusion.

"Er...well...I was just thinking that...well, it's just an idea, but...er...."

"Come on, Potter, you can tell me," Lily said, wiping her eyes.

"Do you—if you need a place to stay—d'you want to come live at my place?"

"Live—live with _you?_" Lily repeated incredulously.

"Forget it...it was just an idea. I didn't mean it suggestively, I just meant it as a...a...peace-offering of sorts, I guess. Not that I don't care about you, of course." James stuttered quickly. Wait. James Potter _stuttering? _Since when did Potter ever act in the least bit self-conscious?

"No...I was just surprised, is all. I mean, I guess if you wanted me to love with you.... That is, if it wouldn't be too much trouble...." Lily stammered out.

"You mean you'll really come?" James asked loudly. Lily flinched at the volume of James's voice, but replied,

"Yes."

Maybe, just maybe, James Potter wasn't so bad....

AN: Well, wasn't that terrible? Please read and review! I would really appreciate constructive criticism, as long as it doesn't get too harsh. No flames please! Tell me what you think. Should I keep writing it, or should I totally delete it from fanfiction forever? PLEASE REVIEW! And please also read my other story, which, if I do say so myself, is a load better than this piece of crap.


	2. We're home!

AN: Wow! I can't believe the positive response that I got from people! Thanks for reading and reviewing! Also—please let me know if you have any ideas for the plot. As I said, I wasn't planning on continuing this thing.... So, here is chapter two! Enjoy.

James and Lily entered Lily's bedroom to pack everything up. Lily had battled with James for a while, telling him that she'd manage just fine packing by herself, but James-ever-the-gentleman-Potter insisted on helping. James pulled out a suitcase from the closet as Lily started taking clothes out of her dresser.

They moved on to packing the personal items. They came across a family picture that looked as if it had been taken when Lily was about twelve. Lily and Petunia, both in braces, stood in front of a lovely woman with blonde hair, and a smiling man with hair the color of Lily's. Lily started tearing up again.

'Oh no,' thought James sadly, rushing over to give her a hug. She pushed him away, rubbing her eyes.

"I'm fine," she said quickly, turning her head away as she quickly shoved the picture in the suitcase. They kept packing in silence.

James tried to convince Lily to tell her sister where she was going, but to no avail, so he hastily jotted down a quick note for Petunia while Lily wasn't looking, explaining her sister's whereabouts.

Lily's house wasn't hooked up to the Floo network, so the two of them walked back. James marveled at the fact that an hour ago, he had only been set on taking a quick jog around the neighbourhood.

They walked in silence for most of the way, but when James's house was in plain view, Lily suddenly voiced a question.

"What will your parents say about me living with you?" James hadn't thought about that. Whoops. He knew, though, that his parents wouldn't mind. Sirius had just moved out. The house had actually been feeling quite empty. He told Lily this.

"But Sirius is your best mate. I'm a girl, and one your parents don't know, at that," Lily contradicted.

"Don't worry about it," James said as they reached the front door of his spectacular house. He knocked loudly on the door three times. A house elf cracked open the door, peering out carefully before swinging the door wide open.

"Master James! You is back! Flora was starting to worry about you! And you brought a lady friend! Who is this?" James smiled and looked from Flora back to Lily.

"This is Lily, Flora. Lily, this is our house elf Flora."

Lily smiled at Flora.

"Nice to meet you, Flora."

"Nice to meet you, too, miss. I is sorry that I did not open the door at first. Flora can never be too careful anymore. Not with _He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named _reigning terror all over, Master James." Lily and James exchanged glances at Flora's words.

Flora ushered the two of them inside, and said, "Mr. And Mrs. Potter will be with you in a moment. I'll take these suitcases up to the extra room." Flora got a watery look in her eyes. "Master James is growing up," she whimpered, as she started lugging the suitcases up the stairs. That moment, two adults talking quietly walked past the room Lily and James were standing in.

"Mum! Dad! There's someone I want you to—"

"We'll talk to you later, son. Dumbledore's just called. A kid from Hogwarts has just been orphaned, and we offered to take her in," Mr. Potter said, opening the door to go outside.

"But Dad! She's right here!" James said quickly. Mr. Potter looked confused.

"What?" He looked around, bewildered, for a moment, and then his eyes focused on Lily. "Oh.... Are you...?"

"Lily Evans, sir."

"Oh. Do you want to live here?" James closed his eyes and sighed. His father had always been quite blunt.

"Well, yes, sir. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, that is...."

"No, no. No trouble at all," the soft voice of Mrs. Potter cut in. "We have plenty of room for another person in this house. It will be nice for James to have some company again." Lily thought that Mrs. Potter sounded nice. She was reminded slightly of her own mother—sweet and polite.

James, obviously eager to get away from his parents, muttered a quick "thanks, Mum", and then turned to Lily. "Want me to show you your room?" he asked, running a hand through his adorable black hair. Wait. Adorable? Since when was his hair adorable? What was wrong with her?

"Yes, please," she said briskly, following him up the stairs. They entered a magnificent room colored bright yellow. It had beautiful furniture, but it wasn't overdone. Lily thought that it was simply gorgeous, but the day she would let Potter know that would be the day Snape actually washed his hair.

"Here we are," James announced.

"Good show of stating the obvious," Lily countered. James ignored this comment.

"Right. So my room is the next door over. I'll leave you to unpack and get settled in. You know where to find me if you need anything. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Er...Potter?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"No problem." And with that, he left the room. Things were improving, he thought optimistically. She actually _thanked _him for something! That was more than he could have said a few weeks ago. James smiled wickedly as he entered his room. Wait till Sirius found out that he was hosting a lady in Sirius's old room.

The next day, Lily was feeling a bit better. Of course, she was still traumatized over her father's death, but being around someone made her feel better, even if it was Potter, who she hated. But, did she really hate him? He had been so nice to her. He hadn't made a pass at her all day. Of course, it wasn't even noon yet, and she hadn't even spoken to Potter yet, so it wasn't too great of an accomplishment, but it _was _an improvement. She had woken up late, and had just finished breakfast.

Suddenly, the front door opened, and in walked James and Sirius. They both looked extremely sweaty and were covered in mud. They basically had the words "I JUST PLAYED QUIDDITCH" written on their foreheads. Lily gave an exasperated sigh. When James caught sight of Lily, he grinned.

"Hey, Lils!"

"Please don't call me that, Potter."

"And why not?"

"Because that's what my dad called me," Lily said quickly, trying to look as if it was unimportant. James's cocky expression became one of guilt and sadness.

"Oh, Lily, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to-"

"You didn't know. It's no problem. No biggie." You could tell it was.

Sirius was hanging in the background awkwardly. He said quickly to James, "I got to go, Prongs. I'll see you later. Bye, Lily."

"Oh-uh...okay. Bye Padfoot," James said. "See you." Sirius closed the door behind him as he left the house. James turned to Lily.

"So," James said, clapping his hands together, "what's up for today?"

"I don't know. What do you usually do on Saturday?"

"Play Quidditch," James said.

"You just got done playing Quidditch," Lily pointed out.

"You can never get tired of Quidditch."

"It's going to be a long summer, huh?" Lily asked with a grim smile.

"Only if you make it one."

A.N.: This seemed like an okay place to stop. This was a pretty bad chapter, huh? Not much going on.... Please, please, _please _give me some plot ideas. Where do you think the story should go? After all, I'm writing this for you guys. Let me know how to make this pathetic story better. I'm sorry if I take a while to update. Things are crazy here. Our play's opening night is in exactly a week. Our director is really freaking out and practices are getting longer.... Might I also mention that I absolutely HATE my costume? Oh well. Please read and review—you know the drill.


	3. Walks, talks, and laughs

Disclaimer: Aw, come on people. If you're daft enough to believe that I own Harry Potter....

A/N: PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!!!! I'm sorry it took me so long to update! It's not my fault—really! I've been so stressed with homework and piano competitions and plays and things. Well, here goes the next one. Again—if you have any ideas for the plot they would be greatly appreciated. Here are responses to my lovely reviewers of chapter deux:

Crystal-Ice2: Thanks for your review(s)! I'm glad you liked it. I will read your new story soon!

Ella-Watson: Thanks so much for reviewing. I don't think it's all that great, myself. Please review again!

ThelovelyladyLily: I will read your story. It sounds good from what I started reading of it. Please review again!

Annmarie Aspasia: Thanks for your reviews. I'm sorry it's taking me so long to update. I really am quite busy, but things are calming down now, so expect sooner updates (but don't hold me to that!)

Puprlebutterfly: Thanks for reviewing, I'm glad you like it!

Marauders4ever: Wow. That was a very long and detailed review. I will be sure to use some of those ideas. Thanks for all of your suggestions—they are greatly appreciated! To answer your questions, in book five, J.K. says that Sirius moved out of James's house after sixth year to get a place of his own. They are going into seventh year now. Please review again!

PrettyLilyFlower: Hey Lily! Thanks for the review. I loved your new story! Please review again!

Chapter Three: Walks, Talks, and Laughs

After about a week of Lily living at the Potters' house, they pretty much had a daily routine: James and Sirius would play Quidditch while Lily read a book, and then the three of them would make lunch, then Sirius would leave and James would try to talk Lily into playing Quidditch with him. He hadn't yet been successful. After James's pleading would come a walk around the Potter estate, where Lily and James would sometimes talk, sometimes just walk in silence. It was an odd thing to do, but they both found themselves looking forward to it everyday.

James had just finished pleading with Lily to play Quidditch for the day, and they decided to head out for their walk. They gotten all the way past the gargantuan black lake before either of them said a word to the other. Finally, James spoke up.

"Do you miss your sister?" he asked not looking at her. Lily looked at him strangely.

"What, Petunia?"

"Yeah," James confirmed. Lily looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Not really," she finally decided. "I mean, she's my sister, and I love her, but...you know...we've never really...gotten along."

"Oh," James said quietly. They walked in silence for a few minutes.

"Why?" Lily asked. James stared at the ground, but stopped walking and turned to face her.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes, I do. What is it, James?" James took a deep breath, and started talking.

"I used to have an older sister named Jess. I idolized her. She was my hero. When I was seven, and she was in her second year at Hogwarts, that Tom Riddle fellow invaded the school, and she was killed. I've...I've just always wondered what it was like to have a sister since then. I felt like I never really got to know, because I was a little kid back then...." his voice broke.

"Oh, James—I'm so sorry that happened. I didn't know."

"No, I'm sorry," James said quickly. "You're grieving right now. I shouldn't be telling you about my problems. I just wanted to know."

"I'm sure your sister was a lot nicer than mine," Lily said. "You can't guess how you and your sister would get along now by how my sister and I get along. It's under totally different circumstances."

"I guess you're right."

"Potter," Lily said.

'Oh great,' thought James. 'She's back to using "Potter" again.'

"Even though I don't know you very well, you know you can always talk to me, right?" Lily asked gently.

"Um...yeah," James said. It was getting too sentimental for him. He was never good with that 'you can always come to me' stuff. The only reason he liked hearing it was because Evans had said it.

"Good," Lily said, her voice business-like again. Obviously she had realized how sappy it had been getting, and was, too, uncomfortable with it.

James looked around. They had unknowingly been walking back toward the house, and were only about seventy yards away from it.

"Race you to the house," he said with a boyish grin before bolting off.

"Hey!" Lily yelled, running after him.

James reached the front door a good ten seconds before Lily. She arrived beside him and hung onto his shoulder, trying to catch her breath.

"Hey Lily," he said.

"Hey—what—," Lily gasped.

"I won," James said with a silly smile.

"You had—a head—start," Lily said, trying to regain her breath.

"No, I just...um...ate more cereal than you this morning!"

"_What?"_ asked Lily, utterly nonplussed.

"You know, that whole muggle cereal commercial about those 'Wheaties' that make you stronger or something?" James said, looking at her like she was an idiot. Lily's face got red. Oh no. She was going to start yelling at him now, he was sure. James, however, had miscalculated. Lily burst out in hysterical laughter.

"Wheaties---head start---so _funny---_muggle commercial," she sputtered incoherently.

"Lily, dear, are you alright?" James asked. Lily nodded, still unable to speak.

After she calmed down, she said with a smile, "Gosh! That wasn't even funny, but it felt so good to laugh! I haven't laughed in a while." Now that he thought about it, James hadn't laughed in a while either.

Mrs. Potter opened the door to see James holding onto Lily as the two of them laughed like maniacs.

"Kids," she muttered with a smile, closing the door again and walking away.

**A/N: Alright, that wasn't too terrible. Tell me what needs improvement in your _reviews _(wink, wink, nudge, nudge). Sorry the update took so long. I will really try to update sooner this time. Shall I say it? Are you people _really_ this dense? Ugh. Fine: _Read and review please. _**


	4. It's All Relative

Don't kill me! cowers in a corner I'm sorry it took me so long. I have a semi-insane life (I'm taking some classes early so I don't have them in the way during the year). I'm really sorry. I'll try to be better. But anyway, you don't want to hear from me, you want to read the story! It's not good, but I had to update! I was feeling sick of myself.

Chapter Four: It's All Relative

The day after the refreshing "laugh incident" was not as carefree as the day previous. It was the day of Lily's father's funeral. That morning, as James was just waking up, he heard a quiet knocking at the door. He sat up groggily, running a hand through his hair. Lily was standing in the doorway, looking shy.

"Oh, hey," said James thickly. "What's up?" It was then that he remembered what day it was. His eyes were now in focus, having put on his glasses, and he could see that she had tearstains down her cheeks.

"Um…James?" Lily began tentatively.

Through all this, it was funny that the one thing James actually focused on was the fact that Lily had called him by his first name.

Swallowing a smile, he sat up a little straighter and cocked his head to the side.

"Today…is my father's funeral," Lily said.

"I know. My mum told me yesterday," James replied, wondering what this was about.

Lily drew in a deep breath and let it out heavily. "I know we have never been on the best of terms or anything, but…My sister, she'll be unbearable at the funeral, I just know it…and all of my aunts and uncles and distant relatives, none of which I know very well will all be crowding around me and—" She stopped to take a breath. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling."

"It's okay—" James started to say.

"—I just…I don't want to face them all alone and I was thinking that maybe if you weren't doing anything and only if you wanted to- I don't want to force you to do this out of pity or anything, that would be so embarrassing—"

"Lily!" James said. "What is it?"

"Would you like to go to the funeral with me?" she spit out.

James was slightly shocked. He was so surprised, in fact that he almost forgot to answer. "Sure," he said when he remembered. "That would be great! I mean—it wouldn't be great that we're going to a funeral- that's really sad- I just meant—"

Lily smiled and laughed softly. "Okay," she said. "That will be great."

James groaned at her teasing use of the word.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lily asked for the thousandth time as they stepped out of the car and walked up the driveway of her parents' old house. They had just arrived there from the actual funeral, and were heading into the house for the wake, when Lily would be forced to talk to her relatives and mingle. The funeral had been very quiet and respectful. No one had really talked much.

As soon as James pushed the front door open, though, they could hear a loud buzz of conversation. James looked at Lily. Her face was set, and she looked ready to endure the worst.

"After you," he said with a 'here we go' grin.

She made a grimace and ducked under his arm and through the door.

"Lily!" called out a loud voice. James looked up as he walked in the door to see a heavy, extravagantly dressed woman who looked about twenty years older than she probably was. She was dabbing at invisible tears with a large handkerchief.

"Oh, Lily! Isn't it terrible? I've been crying since I heard!" she 'sobbed'. James personally found this statement hard to believe, especially considering the woman was not crying now.

Lily, the ever-kind person she was, though, said, "I'm sorry you had to cry that much. It's nice that you cared about them." Lily turned to walk away when the old lady spotted James.

"Ooh, Lily, who's this?"

Lily stopped and wheeled around to face me. "Er…."

What would she say? That they were friends? _Were _they friends? Or just acquaintances thrown together in an odd situation? They had certainly gotten to know each other better over the summer so far. Maybe the term "friends" was relative.

"This is my…" Lily trailed off, probably asking herself the same questions.

"James," James said quickly, sticking out his hand. "It's nice to meet you. Lily has told me all about her relatives."

"Old Large Lady", as James had begun to think of her, looked flattered. "Well, aren't you just the gentleman? It's about time Lily's found herself a man. My husband passed away some years ago."

Before the woman could clamp on to James and tell him her life story, Lily suddenly saw "Uncle Smith" and pulled James further into the house.

"I'm sorry about her," Lily said. "That was my Great-Aunt Mildred. She's a little…well…you saw how she was."

"Don't worry about it," James said. He was just relieved to be away from Mildred.

The rest of the afternoon was a blur to James. He met almost every relative Lily had. Many of them would wink at James after Lily introduced him as her "friend". He decided not to mention this to Lily.

As for Petunia, Lily only went to speak to her as they were about to leave.

"Lily," acknowledged Petunia. Lily nodded in return. They started exchanging "how are you" s. They were very formal and stood about three feet away from each other. James felt uncomfortable being present for a conversation between the two, and started to back away. Almost as a reflex, Lily's hand shot out and grabbed his hand and pulled him back. His eyes widened but he obeyed her nonverbal request and stayed by her side. Petunia, after looking James up and down with mild curiosity, informed her that Lily had been given her parents' money and car, while Petunia got the house and the furniture. They were told to split up her parents' other possessions equally. They set a date to divide up their parents' personal things, and the cold conversation was over.

It was as Lily started to walk out of the house that she realized she was still holding James' hand. James, who had been acutely aware of this fact, was a little embarrassed when she dropped his hand like wildfire and blushed.

The walk to the car and the drive home was completely silent. Neither of them had a very good time, James knew. And, out of the corner of his eye, he could swear that he had seen a tear slip down her cheek.

There you go! So sorry about the wait! I'll try to be faster next time. You can start to see a pattern in their relationship—as soon as they ease up around each other, they back off and become very formal again. What a wicked cycle! Well, you know the score: READ AND REVIEW! I love reviews! They make me so happy! So please make me happy by reviewing! And I'd just like to say that I liked HBP very much! I finished it a while earlier.

Till next time,

I HATE CAPS-LOCK


	5. Strawberry Banana Smoothies

Cowers- I know, I know. I'm awful. But my life is insane, and that sounds like an excuse and maybe it is, but it's also true. So don't hate on me. Please. Por favor. Sil vous plait. That's the extent of my tri-linguality.

So here comes the next long-awaited (or at least I'd like to think) chapter.

Disclaimer: IT'S NOT MINE! I PROMISE!

Chapter 5

James opened the door for Lily as they entered the Potter household. The drive home from the funeral had been uncomfortable. James thought of it as about twenty awkward silences put together.

As they walked into the kitchen and Lily set her car keys on the counter, however, the tension between them started to ease, like one of those things that checks your blood pressure finally letting up.

Lily sat down on a kitchen stool, put her head on her arms, and sighed, exhausted but relieved it was all over. James just stood on the other side of the counter and looked at her. They stayed like this for a few minutes, just letting memories of the day wash over them, then finally wash away.

When Lily looked up, James was behind her, and his hands were on her shoulder. For once, most likely because she was so tired, she didn't reprimand him. She put her head back down as he started to rub her shoulders.

While he did this, not only did the pressure in her back leave, but the pressure between the two of them left. James was sure that Lily knew the same thing he did- they were at a truce. It may not have been altogether correct to call them friends, for what did that term really mean?

James kept on kneading Lily's back in almost a rhythmic way. It felt so good that Lily almost forgot that she hadn't eaten anything all day. But only almost.

Breaking through the silence of the kitchen Lily's stomach took a stand.

Grrroooooowwwwlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 

Lily sat up, and James stopped rubbing her back. Then, all of a sudden, James' stomach joined in.

Grrroooooowwwwlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 

James started laughing. "That's a pretty sound," he said jokingly.

"Oh, yes. I think we should make a new band," Lily said, playing along.

"We could call it 'The Growlers'. It would be the hit of WWN!" James exclaimed.

They joked in this manner for a while, but after a few moments, their hunger took precedence.

"Okay, I really need to eat something," Lily said desperately.

Without saying a word, James stood up and walked toward the refrigerator. He started pulling out an odd combination of things: yogurt, bananas, milk, and strawberries. Then, he pulled some chocolate powder out of a cabinet, and finally, a blender.

In what seemed a "trying this for the first time" way, James took all of his ingredients and started to throw them pell-mell into the blender. Lily giggled as he started fighting with the blender.

"Bloody thing…." He turned to Lily. "My mum used to make me smoothies all the time. The only problem is, she never showed me how to use this God-forsaken blender, and now I can't show off for you by being 'Mr. Good-Cooker.'"

Lily smiled and walked over to James and the blender.

"Now, I'm sure that all of this pent-up anger is not healthy, and it is really not healthy to take it out on the poor blender," Lily said in her "mediator" voice. "The question is, what caused all this anger?" She tried to keep a straight, 'thoughtful' face, but soon broke into a silly grin. In what seemed like .03 seconds, she had fixed the blender, and all of the ingredients were mixing together like…well, like magic.

"Well that was a blow to my ego," James said with a slight frown.

"I think you need one every now and then," Lily retorted. "Oh- I think the smoothies are done!" she exclaimed with childish delight.

James found two tall glasses from a cabinet and filled them up with the pinkish drink.

The two of them sat down at bar stools in companionable silence, just slurping away at their smoothies.

Maybe "friends" wasn't the word to describe what they were, James thought, but making smoothies together gives you a certain bond that never goes away.

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Yes, I know. It was short, and it was a filler, and it came many, many months late. Please don't hate me. I have joined Inconsistent Updaters Anonymous, and their twelve-step program seems to be doing wonders for me. As always, me want reviews. So please don't leave me reviewless! I always appreciate ideas/suggestions/criticism(?). So say whatever you want in your reviews (tell me your favorite 90's boy band if you want)…as long as you review! Love love love, capslock


	6. It's a date

Author's note: I am a hypocrite and a liar- I know both of these things. I said I'd be a better updater and I haven't. I suck. But here's a new chapter for you, and in order to speed up the updates, keep the reviews coming! AP classes suck, by the way, and you may blame them for my slow update.

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I would be in Edinborough right now, and I certainly wouldn't be writing this story. I would be writing Harry Potter. As long as this story is not Harry Potter (thank God it's not), I am not J.K. Rowling.

Chapter Six: It's a date

The summer was flying past Lily in a blur of backyard Quidditch matches, late-night games of Exploding Snap, drinking butterbeers at Sirius' new flat, and just relaxing and enjoying the warm weather. James was fast becoming one of Lily's closest friends, and neither of them was sure how it happened.

Lily had never really had a best friend. She was incredibly popular, of course- she knew and was like by most everyone in the school- but she had never had one closest friend in whom she could confide almost anything that crossed her mind. At first, seeing James and Sirius together confounded her- how could two people be so close? But as she spent more time with them- and especially James- her confusion turned to want. She began to take notice in how loyal and trusting James was. She wanted that kind of closeness. Moreover, she wanted that closeness with James.

So Lily began to open up. She began sharing things with James and Sirius when they sat by the fire at night, just chatting. They talked about everything- the latest Quidditch match, their favourite classes, and even their hopes and fears. She learned some things about both of them- Sirius' mum had wanted him to be in Slytherin; James' favourite flavour of Bertie Bott's was avocado. And she told them things about herself- her fights with Petunia, funny stories about childhood friends. The more they told stories, the better friends they became.

Lily and James fell onto the floor of the Potter living room ungracefully. They had just Flooed back from Sirius' house (he had a date that afternoon with a sixth-year Ravenclaw). They stood up, brushing off soot, to find Mrs. Potter standing in the room waiting for them, a silly grin on her face, with two letters in hand.

The teenagers looked at her quizzically. Without saying a word, Mrs. Potter handed them each a letter, which James then recognised as their Hogwarts letters.

"Open them!" Mrs. Potter said quickly. "I can't bear to wait any longer!"

Lily and James obliged, opening their letters in tandem. As they broke open the seal, two badges came out. Lily squealed and hugged Mrs. Potter. They were jumping up and down, both sobbing, a stream of, "Oh my goodness!", "I can't believe it!", "Professor Dumbledore told me yesterday, but I couldn't tell you!" coming out of their mouths. All the while James was standing, just staring at his Head Boy badge, unbelieving. When Lily and Mrs. Potter broke their excited embrace, they turned to look at James.

"I…I….I can't wait to hold this over Sirius' head!" James said, breaking out into a grin.

Without thinking, Lily reached out and gave him a huge hug. When they broke apart, Mrs. Potter closed in to give her stunned son a hug. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered in his ear. "Wait until your father hears about this!"

That night, the Potters had a huge dinner. They invited over Sirius, Remus, and Peter to engage in the fun as well. They stayed up half the night, eating more dessert than they should have, Mr. and Mrs. Potter telling stories of their Hogwarts days (Mr. Potter especially had some funny stories from his own Head Boy-ship).

The next morning, Lily woke up early. It was the kind of waking-up you just couldn't control. You just woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep. She laid in bed until a quarter after seven, but she just couldn't take it anymore. She got out of bed and walked across the hall.

She pushed open James' bedroom door and looked in. He was sprawled on the bed, a mass of bent limbs and bed sheets. Lily mused that he looked like a little four-year old, his hands curled up near his face and his bottom lip sticking out slightly.

In a move that surprised Lily herself, she jumped on top of James in the bed. With a resounding "Umph!" James' eyes opened and turned very confused as he saw Lily, giggling, on top of him.

"Whaa?" he grumbled out sleepily.

"I was bored, so I decided to wake you up," Lily said happily.

"It's…" he looked at the clock. "Geez, Lily, it's seven o'clock in the morning!"

"Oh, don't complain- I've been up since 5:30," Lily said in a chipper voice.

James groaned and started to sit up.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked.

"Getting up so that I can put on clothes," James said. Lily looked at him and realised that he was only wearing a pair of boxers. Mortified, she jumped up and hastily turned around to face the wall.

"Oh! Oh! Okay. Put on clothes. That's a good idea," Lily said hurriedly. Why did this bother her so much? It was only James. 'That's right- it's James. Half-clothed. In the same room as you,' her brain informed her, almost teasing. Trying to calm herself, she took a breath, listening to the rustle of clothes and the opening and closing of James' wardrobe. 'This shouldn't bother me,' Lily though bracingly. 'It's only James. And why should I care about what James is wearing? Or…what he's not wearing?' She shuddered at this, clearing her head as James spoke.

"Do you want to go to Diagon Alley today?" he asked. Taking this as a cue that it was okay to look at him again, Lily turned around.

"Sure," she said, hoping that her face was no longer bright red. There were times when being a redhead just sucked. "We could get all our new school stuff."

James hesitated. "Well, yeah…. And, you know… we could just go to… hang out."

Lily looked at him. His cheeks were tinged red. What did this mean? Was he asking her out? And why was he nervous? He'd asked her out dozens of times. He'd always taken her rejection without a second glance. But, then again, did she want to reject him?

Slowly, not really sure of how to answer, she nodded. "That would be fun. I've been wanting to look around Flourish and Blotts. I heard there were some really great new books there."

James chuckled. "Okay," he said, humouring her. "We'll go check out the new books. And then maybe some ice cream. Today's supposed to be pretty warm."

This didn't sound too bad. Plus, ice cream was casual. Anyone could go get ice cream. It didn't mean they would be on a date. Somehow this disappointed Lily. Maybe she wanted it to be a date. What did she want anymore?

"That sounds like fun. And, hey- we could always stop in the Leaky Cauldron and have lunch together," Lily threw in, desperately hoping it sounded like a casual suggestion.

James looked surprised at this. "Um…okay. Yeah. That sounds good."

"Good," Lily repeated.

James smiled. "So, okay then. It's a date."

Author's note (part deux): Okay, so hopefully the new chapter was good enough that you don't hate me for not updating (but probably not). Please, please humour me and send me a review. It doesn't even have to be a good review. You don't even have to talk about the story. Tell me about your favourite reality TV show, if you want. I don't care. Here's a hint: I already have the next chapter half-written. The more reviews there are, the faster the next chapter comes.

Here's another hint: there's this urban legend that if you hit that little purple-ish "Go" button, something magical will happen. Seriously. Try it. Press the magical little "Go" button. I dare you.

PLEASE REVIEW!


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